S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa (abbreviated as STCG), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school located in

Gurutalawa Gurutalawa (ගුරුතලාව) is a rural town in Sri Lanka. It is located in Badulla District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka. The famous St. Thomas' College is located in Gurutalawa. External links * Jummah Mosque See also *Towns in Uva Uv ...

, in the

Uva Province The Uva Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. The province has an area of 8,500 km2 and a population of 1,266,463, making it the 2nd least populated province. The provincial capital is Badulla. Uva is bordered by the East ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The college was founded as a private school by Dr. R. L. Hayman, the longest serving sub warden of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, in 1942. The college is administered by the

Church of Ceylon The Church of Ceylon () is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extraprovincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan bishop, Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the fir ...

Administration

The college forms a branch of

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

, which is under the Anglican Church of Ceylon, is run by a Board of Governors which is chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Colombo, who is also known as the "Visitor of the College". The administration of the college is headed by a headmaster, who is an Anglican priest. Admission to the college is at the sole discretion of the headmaster.

History

S. Thomas' College,

was founded by Dr. R. L. Hayman in 1942, as a branch of

. A farm with some land and buildings was donated to the college by Leslie de Saram and his wife. Due to the Japanese war threats to Colombo, during World War II, the State Council decided in February 1942 to close all schools in the Colombo District. There were over 700 boys at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and as the Warden explored possibilities of opening branches inland, Leslie De Seram made the generous offer of their farm at Gurutalawa.

Current status

The college is a fully fledged school catering to extra-curricular activities with a swimming pool and has facilities for nearly all sports including athletics, cricket, basketball, rugby, volleyball, squash, soccer, table tennis, hockey, badminton, swimming as well as activities like scouting, hiking and trekking. There is also the encouragement for a variety of societies and clubs, debating, oratory, oriental dancing and music.

Headmasters

Notable alumni

* Bradmon Weerakoon - Civil Servant and served as the Secretary to the several Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka (Such as Sir.

John Kotelawala General (Sri Lanka), General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala (; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from 1953 to 1956. Born to a wealthy landholding and mining f ...

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, Wijayananda Dahanayake,

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Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa''; ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 unt ...

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) *

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

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- Former Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for Defense * Revd. Dr. Lakshman Wickremasinghe - Bishop in the Church of England and Human Rights activist *

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- Former Member of Parliament for Kalawana Seat, Ratnapura District * Ananda Kumarasiri - Current Deputy Speaker of the

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, Current member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for Wellawaya Seat, Monaragala District *

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- Current Governor of the Central Province of Sri Lanka, Former Governor of the Southern Province of Sri Lanka * Jagath Pushpakumara - Former Minister of Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development, Former Non-Cabinet Minister of Nation Building and Estate Infrastructure Development, Former Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries, Agriculture, Social Services, Samurdhi, Poverty Alleviation, Mahaweli Development, Livestock Development, Estate Infrastructure and Former Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament for Wellawaya Seat, Monaragala District *Dr. Frank de Silva - 24th

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(IGP) *

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- Former Governor of the Uva Province of Sri Lanka & Former Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament *

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- Former Member of Parliament for Balangoda Seat, Former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, Food, Co-operatives and Fisheries, Former Chairman of the State Plantations Corporation and the Sri Lanka Tea Board & The younger brother of Late

Prime Minister of Ceylon The prime minister of Sri Lanka, officially the prime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's exec ...

Ratwatte * Nalanda Ellawala - Former Member of parliament for Ratnapura District & Former Member of

Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province. History The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British in the 19th century, but did not have any legal status until 198 ...

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- Current Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament for Kandy District, Former Minister of Mass Media and Information, Former Member of The

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Sasi Mahendran Balendran Sasi Mahendran is a Sri Lankan lawyer who serves as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka. He was appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and has served since 14 June 2021. Early life Mahendran is an alumnus of R. K. M. Sri ...

– Judge of the Court of Appeal since 2021

References

External links

*
Official website of S. Thomas' College Gurutalawa Old Boys AssociationOfficial website of S. Thomas' College Gurutalawa '62 GroupOfficial website of S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia

Church of Ceylon - The Anglican Church in Sri Lanka

S. Thomas' Collegestcguru.org

* ttp://www.nation.lk/2008/03/30/letters.htm Mrs Mary Haymanbr>Biography of an old boySTC OBA AustraliaSTC OBA CanadaOld Thomians
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